Has anyone tried this retailer? I have been looking for some new places to get high-end Uji sencha, and the name came up in a Google search.

Also, a fun language question: I know what Marukyu means, but Koyamaen? Is Koyamaen even a Japanese word, or is it 'small mountain' with 'en' attached to denote that it's their English-language website?

EDIT: I read on their website that one of their points of distribution for their tea is at temples? Do Japanese temples really have tea for sale? That's awesome. We need to start selling gourmet coffee in churches here in the west.

Bakkoi wrote:Has anyone tried this retailer? I have been looking for some new places to get high-end Uji sencha, and the name came up in a Google search.

Also, a fun language question: I know what Marukyu means, but Koyamaen? Is Koyamaen even a Japanese word, or is it 'small mountain' with 'en' attached to denote that it's their English-language website?

EDIT: I read on their website that one of their points of distribution for their tea is at temples? Do Japanese temples really have tea for sale? That's awesome. We need to start selling gourmet coffee in churches here in the west.

Many Japanese consider Marukyu Koyamaen and Ippodo to be the standard bearers of Japanese teas. They certainly are very well known to the vast majority of tea drinkers. I have drank matcha from both sellers but only loose teas from Ippodo.

Bakkoi wrote: I read on their website that one of their points of distribution for their tea is at temples? Do Japanese temples really have tea for sale? That's awesome. We need to start selling gourmet coffee in churches here in the west.

Lol... they do sell coffee in churches. You find a good number of churches nowadays that have a small coffee shop inside, sometimes open just on Sundays, others open all the time. You'd be surprised how many 'Holy Grounds' there are out there...

You said you know what it means, but what does Marukyu mean?

I've seen the ending 'en' on several Japanese company names; I don't know the meaning, but I guessed 'store' or 'inc', etc, kind of like adding the 'ya' ('house' I think) ending.

Ha... yes, that is one meaning for Marukyu.... but that's not the kyuu they mean (9 is 九).

If you look at their website, they have 久 in a circle (or also 丸久). That's Maru (丸, circle) and kyuu (久). This kyuu is a character (also can be read as 'hisashii') often used for 'long time' -- for example, it's in the phrase "hisashiburi" -- or "it's been a long time." Even so, they don't really give a meaning for this word beyond the characters.

小山園 , or koyamaen is a bit easier. The founder was Koyama (which means hill, or knoll... literally 'small mountain'). So Koyama-en is Koyama Orchard (or Park or Plantation) -- i.e. the place where the tea grows. I suppose you could call it Hill Orchard, but Koyama is really a person's name, not so much the 'place' meaning of the word.

Hi Bakkoi,
i tried most of Marukyu-Koyamaen's teas and i think you can't go wrong with them.
They've got great sencha and in my opinion their gyokuro and matcha are among the best you can buy.
I had sencha shuei and also maiko's shuppincha,but to be honest i'm not able to do a fair comparsion.so far i can remember both were great teas and it's probably a matter of personal taste what you prefer.
Last 2 sencha i had from Marukyu-Koyamaen were silver and gold shincha and they were real good,so maybe you consider ordering them too.

The owner used to have a shop in the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto, but closed it some time ago.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

I just placed an order. Thanks for the link... I probably never would have found this place otherwise. I ordered Tekki Tekki and Hourai sencha, but unfortunately, it will be 1-2 months before he gets it in stock (not sure why...). If the thread is still up and I remember, I'll resurrect it with my thoughts on the tea. Unless there's a Vendor Guide section for Marukyu?

As I'm currently studying sado (Japanese tea ceremony), I've made it my mission to try as many different types of matcha from different companies, and to work out which ones I prefer.

I have ordered and tried matcha from Marukyu-Koyamaen and I think it's fantastic quality. In my case, it helped that I could write in Japanese and also explain that I'm studying the tea ceremony. I highly recommend 'Wakou' for usucha, and 'Choan' or if you have the cash to splash, 'Tenju' is wonderful for koicha.